Matt Lauer Claps Back Against Allegations Brought by Former 'Today' Colleague Ann Curry

Former "Today" co-hosts Matt Lauer and Ann Curry have traded jabs over her claim that she reported him to NBC after a co-worker allegedly told her she was being sexually harassed by him.

Lauer, fired last year for inappropriate conduct involving a NBC employee, made his first comments since leaving and denied forcing himself on anyone at the network.

"I fully acknowledge that I acted inappropriately as a husband, father and principal at NBC," he told The Washington Post. "However I want to make it perfectly clear that any allegations or reports of coercive, aggressive or abusive actions on my part, at any time, are absolutely false."

The paper also reported that Curry said she warned the network about Lauer's alleged behavior after a female colleague came to her in tears in 2012.

"A woman approached me and asked me tearfully if I could help her," Curry told the paper, adding that the woman wanted to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation. "She was afraid of losing her job... I believed her."

"I told management they had a problem and they needed to keep an eye on him and how he deals with women," she said.

The network said they have no record of Curry's warning. The employee's name was not revealed.

"I have made no public comments on the many false stories from anonymous or biased sources that have been reported about me over these past several months," Lauer said. "I remained silent in an attempt to protect my family from further embarrassment and to restore a small degree of the privacy they have lost."